My Gallbladder is GONE!

I'm writing this while still on pain killers so I hope this makes sense in the end. Last Saturday morning I woke up with severe pain in my stomach. My neice Hannah had just experienced the same thing and so I thought I caught some "bug" from her. The pain was HORRIBLE and did not subside. I tried to continue my Saturday as planned but ended up in bed most of the day. Sunday did not prove much better. Hannah's pain lasted about 3 days so I thought I only had one more day of discomfort. I could not believe how constant the pain was~ I had never had a stomach ache before and was surprised at how much pain a virus could cause.

On Tuesday, I woke up with a high fever and I could not stand up straight because the pain was so intense. I called my Dr and was able to get in to see someone. The Dr. could not even touch my stomach as it was too sensitive and she ordered me to go to the hospital to get a CAT scan as it must be an "acute" situation. So, off to the hospital I went. I drank that GROSS stuff you have to drink and then sat for an hour until they came and hooked me up to an iodine I.V. so that I could get my scan. They made me put my arms above my head during the scan and all I could do was cry - it hurt so much. The technician was very nice and he tried to comfort me...I guess I looked pretty pitiful. Within 10 minutes the Dr. who looked at the results called me in the waiting room and said he was admitting me to the hospital right away and I would have surgery that night or the next day to remove my gallbladder! I was shocked~ I had never had any symptoms before Saturday. I was admitted right away and it was determined that I needed antibiotics before surgery so I would be operated on the next day. They hooked me up to an I.V. and pumped antibiotics and FINALLY pain killers into me. I love modern medicine.

I was able to go into surgery around 3 pm the next day. Dori and my mother came to the hospital and my friend Natalie was also there when I came out of surgery. They were able to do laparoscopic surgery which I was thankful for. The Dr. said that there was a good chance I might have to have open surgery given how inflamed my gallbladder was.

******WARNING****** The picture below is DISGUSTING and not for the weak stomach.

So, here is my gallbladder. A healthy gallbladder is supposed to be the color of the sheet it is on (robin egg blue) and it is supposed to be paper thin. Mine was over 1 1/2 inches .....extremely inflamed. The Dr. said he wasn't sure he had ever seen such a sick little gallbladder. He was surprised it had not bursted - which would have put me in a very life threatening situation. They kept a tube in me for 2 days to drain the infection and fluid -not comfortable.

So, I was discharged from the hospital Friday afternoon and sent home with some pretty strong pain killers......which I have no problem taking when the pain gets to be too much. I will be down and out for a couple days at least and am trying to get up and around more every day.

I want to thank all of my friends (and family) who came to see me in the hospital. I also got tons of flowers, balloons and cards. The nurses commented that I had flowers sent to my room before I even got there and kept saying that I must be a very loved person. They have volunteers that bring the flowers to the rooms and this one older man kept coming to my room with flowers and he'd say "more flowers for the most loved person in the hospital"....he was cute and it made me feel so good. I feel very blessed to have all of my friends and family who care so much for me. All of my life I have been blessed with great friends who have taught me about service and compassion and love. It's times like this when I get overwhelmed with feelings of thankfulness and love for everyone in my life. I am a very blessed girl.